The Importance of the Thickness of the Femoral Cement Mantle

The importance of mantle thickness in the long-term survival of cemented femoral components remains controversial. One complexity in evaluating mantle thickness alone is the dominating fact that so many other factors can influence the incidence of failure.

Nonetheless, a cement grading system has been applied to the assessment of the intermediate and long-term follow-up series of the following cemented femoral stem designs HD-2 (Howmedica, Rutherford, NJ), CAD (Howmedica, Rutherford, NJ), Precoat (Zimmer, Warsaw, IN), Iowa (Zimmer, Warsaw, IN), Ti32 (Zimmer, Warsaw, IN), and DF80 (Zimmer, Warsaw, IN). In each series, a statistically significant increased risk of failure was found in those cases with cement mantles that were thin or deficient. While these data do not mean that all such cases fail, the data strongly support the concept of avoiding such deficiencies in the cement mantle of these stem designs.